For the last year, Student Association has been led by Emma Wittman and her Vice President, Cisco Garcia. Last week, the student body voted to elect their newest president and vice president, marking the end of a successful year for the Wittman and Garcia duo.
The Racquet Press sat down with Wittman to talk about her experience in student government over the last four years.
“Freshman year, I was recruited to be the Asian Student Organization senator. I was just a senator, my freshman year, and then I went to apply for the executive cabinet my sophomore year and became the director of inclusivity,” Wittman said.
There, Wittman was approached by her current vice president, Cisco Garcia, who asked if she was interested in running for president. After some consideration, they agreed that they would run. This was the first contested election in many years, leading the university’s political scene to be very active.
The campaign process was very time-consuming and challenging. After a long effort, they ended up winning with nearly 75% of the votes.
Below are Wittman’s answers to her Q&A interview with The Racquet Press.
Question: How does the election process work for each senator?
“In the fall and the spring, we have elections, and so there will be a certain number of seats delegated to each college based on the number of majors in that college,” Wittman said. “And then we have our multicultural organizations, so those are like our Black Student Unity, Asian Student Organization, Latin American Student Organization, Native American Organizations, and disability groups.”
Question: What is something that you accomplished this year that you’re most proud of?
“Well, to be so transparent and vulnerable, I remember communicating with my professors that I was in the dumps…I said something along the lines of people who look like me don’t win these types of things. I started getting into that mindset of people like me don’t get the opportunity to lead these things [Student Association]. And when I won, that was an external response that people saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time. It did something for my self-esteem that I didn’t know I needed.”
“Me being an Asian woman, him [Garcia] being a queer Hispanic man. We had never really seen people who looked like us in these high-level positions before. We were aiming to not only break down that barrier, but also kind of show the marginalized students on this campus that it’s really possible to be president or vice president of the student body and have this identity,” Wittman said.
Question: What resolutions has the Student Association passed in the last year that you think really exemplifies what you’ve been trying to accomplish?
“We had senators writing about reaffirming our stance and supporting diversity on campus, or supporting sustainability, or making sure that our food pantries are safe for students. We passed resolutions about accessibility for students and ownership of our policies, like a chalking policy,” said Wittman.
Wittman and Garcia said they worked hard to cultivate an environment where every senator and student feels welcome and heard. Over the span of their presidency, Wittman said her and Garcia have helped more marginalized students find their voice and speak up for what matters to them.
Question: What would you want to tell a student who is interested in Student Government?
Wittman spoke about how student government is not for everyone and that it takes a certain kind of person to be motivated to volunteer their time for the greater good of the university. She encouraged anyone interested in student government to attend a meeting and see what the student government is all about.
Wittman remarked, “This role is for someone who has that passion for advocacy and being a part of a student leadership group; it’s not for everyone. It’s really, do you have that passion and that drive to make a change for good?”
Student Association meets every Wednesday night on the 2nd floor of the Student Union in room 2310. Their meetings are open to any students who would like to attend.
